Georgia Bulldogs: Ben Malena

Week 5 in the SEC provided what could have been the game of the year between Georgia and LSU. The nation’s No. 1 team played up to its ranking, and there were plenty of impressive performances across the league. It’s time to hand out the helmet stickers.

Aaron Murray, QB Georgia: It wasn’t long ago when Murray was labeled the quarterback who couldn’t win the big game. It’s time to throw that away. The senior finished 20-of-34 for 298 yards and five total touchdowns in Georgia’s biggest game of the year. He has always been productive -- he could soon become the SEC’s most productive quarterback of all time -- but add the clutch factor and there’s no reason not to think he’s a top contender for the Heisman this year. The Bulldogs control their own destiny in the SEC East, and Murray and company would love nothing more than a chance to avenge last year’s loss to Alabama in the conference championship. They have to get through Florida first.

Zach Mettenberger, QB LSU: It doesn’t matter how well somebody plays, there has to be a winner and there has to be a loser. Unfortunately for Mettenberger, he finished on the losing side Saturday, but the former Georgia quarterback played admirably against his former team. He finished 23-of-37 for 372 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Down the stretch, he made clutch throw after clutch throw to keep the Tigers in the game. LSU wide receivers Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry had close to 300 yards receiving between them, but it starts with Mettenberger. He had a terrific homecoming but came up just short.

The Alabama secondary: Before the game, Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace said he thought they could score on anybody. Evidently not Alabama. The No. 1 team in the nation shut out the Rebels, 25-0. Wallace singled out the Crimson Tide cornerbacks, saying they weren’t exactly first-rounders, but Deion Belue and Eddie Jackson stepped up on Saturday. Jackson, a true freshman, was especially impressive locking up Wallace’s favorite target Donte Moncrief for most of the game. He also came down with the Tide’s lone interception. As a whole, the UA secondary held Ole Miss to just 159 yards through the air.

Mike Davis, RB South Carolina: At halftime, it didn’t look good for South Carolina. The Gamecocks trailed Central Florida, 10-0, and quarterback Connor Shaw was lost for the game with a shoulder injury. But Davis didn’t care. He put his team on his back and carried it to victory. It started with a 53-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the third quarter, the first points of the game for the Gamecocks. He scored twice more in the fourth quarter to extend the lead and put the game away. The sophomore back finished with 26 carries for 167 yards and three touchdowns as South Carolina survived a difficult road test.

The Texas A&M offensive line:Johnny Manziel gets most of the credit for Texas A&M’s high-powered offense, but it was the offensive line that absolutely dominated Arkansas up front on Saturday. The Aggies rushed for 262 yards against the Razorbacks, averaging six yards per carry. No one player reached 100 yards rushing, but Trey Williams and Tra Carson played well down the stretch, and starting running back Ben Malena scored twice. Manziel still finished with 261 yards and two touchdowns through the air and another 59 yards on the ground, but it all started with the offensive line.

From Matt Freeman (@Onearmbird):How slow will Tennessee look this [Saturday] at Oregon?

I'm afraid the Vols will look a little sluggish in Eugene, and not just because of the jet lag from the cross-country trip. Oregon runs a play every 17 seconds or so. I get lightheaded just watching it. While I applaud the job Butch Jones has done in Knoxville thus far, injecting life into what was a downtrodden program, I just don't see him having the bodies on defense to keep up with Oregon's attack. Keeping the Ducks under 50 could be seen as a victory. In this case, Tennessee's 2-0 start may be misleading. Austin Peay was a pushover, and Western Kentucky all but gave last week's game away with five turnovers in a span of six plays. The Vols defense gave up almost 400 yards that game, and I don't see Marcus Mariota and Co. giving the ball away and failing to capitalize like that.

From Jeremy Garcia (@theFAKEJeremyG): How would you rank Texas A&M's depth at RB, compared to the rest of the conference?

It's among the best in the conference with Ben Malena, Trey Williams and Brandon Williams. Oh yeah, and Tra Carson is no slouch either. All four backs have the skill to start at other programs, and playing alongside Johnny Manziel, they're made even more lethal. I came across an interesting stat on Malena while researching Saturday's game against Alabama: Malena is 10th nationally (minimum 20 carries) with 61.9 percent of his carries going for 5 or more yards. Compare that to All-ACC tailback Duke Johnson, who came in at 47.5 percent.

From Matt Siggelow (@CFBPOexpert): How is it possible that [Alabama] never travels outside of their region or the U.S. to play BCS programs in their stadiums?

Simply put, they don't have to. The sudden rise in popularity of neutral-site games have allowed Alabama to stay away from nonconference games in road environments. Traveling to Texas last year was big, but it was a mostly 50-50 crowd against Michigan. And against Virginia Tech this year, the crowd wasn't too far in Alabama's favor even though Atlanta is much closer to Tuscaloosa than it is Blacksburg. I think it's hard to blame Alabama for the lack of road nonconference games, though. I don't see schools wanting to schedule more than a one-off neutral-site game much these days, whether that's against Alabama or another school. That said, there is a home-and-home scheduled between Alabama and Michigan State in 2016 and 2017 to look forward to.

From Ryan W. Tyler (@ryanwtyler): One-loss [Georgia] that beat undefeated Alabama in SEC champ over either undefeated Oregon or OSU?

Based on Georgia's schedule, it would be hard to keep them out of the championship game. Beating ranked opponents South Carolina, LSU and Florida is more than enough on a one-loss résumé, especially when that one loss came on the road in a close game against a ranked opponent in Clemson. That said, I can see conference fatigue setting in, and the two teams you brought up might be the only ones who could come in ahead of a one-loss SEC team like Georgia. While their schedules aren't spectacular, Ohio State and Oregon will have high profile games to showcase themselves to national voters: the Buckeyes play Michigan, and the Ducks face Stanford.

From Levi Weeks (@Weemsy_1): How do you think Alabama's defense will contain the multi-threat QB Johnny Manziel this Saturday?

Playing gap assignment football will be the key for Alabama's defense. That means the the defensive line must avoid going after the sack and instead maintain its lanes in order to not give Manziel too much room to run when the pocket does break down. C.J. Mosley is a good spy to keep on Manziel at Mike linebacker, but he'll need help up front. Alabama doesn't have a dominant pass-rusher, but in this game it doesn't need one. Pressure is important, but it's even more important that the defense not get out of position and allow the big play. As we all have seen over the past year or so, Manziel is his best when the play breaks down and he can improvise in space.

From Jeremy Davis (@JT_Dav):Which Arkansas team will show up for SEC play? Week 1 or Week 2?

I may be skirting the question a little here, but I think the Razorbacks team that show up for SEC play will be the once that plays Southern Miss this weekend. Back-to-back wins were a nice way to kick off a new era in Arkansas football -- however uninspiring last week's win against Samford might have been -- but we'll see what kind of team Bret Beilema has assembled this weekend against a program that mimics a lot of the size and speed of the SEC. Southern Miss averages right around 300 yards through the air per game, which could be a problem for an Arkansas defense that's had trouble in pass coverage. Having a good game defensively and continuing to establish the running game with Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams would be a good way to work toward the start of SEC play in a few weeks.

From Brandon Truett (@do_it_truett89): Do you think the latest allegations are true about Alabama? Also who wins #BAMAvsTAMU?

It's not my place to comment on another story, but I will give my game prediction since this is the last question of the post. Alabama wins by two scores -- I'm thinking 34-21 -- if the offensive line plays better than it did Week 1 against Virginia Tech and limits the pressure in the backfield. Getting the running game going early will be huge for Nick Saban and the coaching staff. Moving the sticks with T.J. Yeldon and Co. will help control the tempo of the game and allow AJ McCarron to do what he does best -- work off play-action. With an entire offseason to prepare, I think Alabama's defense builds off last year's game, in which it held the Aggies to nine points over the final three quarters, and keeps Manziel in check, for the most part.

"College Football Live" and its Summer Tour stops in Alabama today. Tom Rinaldi and Todd McShay will check in on Nick Saban, AJ McCarron and Co. Catch them throughout the day on "SportsCenter" and on CFB Live at 5 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

Here are some other things from around the SEC that you may find interesting.

Alabama's deep group of receivers may make this year's offense one of the best in school history, receiver Kenny Bell says.

Kentucky forced just 13 turnovers last season and the Wildcats are making that a point of emphasis during the preseason.

Vanderbilt receiver Jonathan Krause is trying to rebound from a season in which he was the forgotten man on offense.

Florida having a successful season doesn't hinge on the quarterback, receivers or offensive line. It depends on how well the linebackers develop. The Gators did lose one of the country's top kick returners on Wednesday when the school announced that Andre Debose had suffered a torn ACL.

Texas A&M running back Ben Malena is a steadying force in the Aggies' backfield.

Five former college quarterbacks weigh in on how they believe Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel has handled his success.

College football prognosticator Phil Steele continues his look at the top depth charts around the country. Today, we're looking at his top running back depth charts.

Steele has three SEC teams on his list, with Georgia taking his top spot. Alabama is No. 2, while Texas A&M is 14th.

It's hard to argue against having Georgia No. 1. The Bulldogs bring back the top one-two rushing punch in Todd Gurley, who led SEC running backs with 1,385 yards and 17 touchdowns, and slasher Keith Marshall. The duo combined for 2,144 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. There isn't much behind these two, but they did just fine with the majority of the carries last year.

AP Photo/Romeo GuzmanT.J. Yeldon returns to lead a deep backfield for the Crimson Tide this season.

Alabama has a very deep backfield that's led by sophomore T.J. Yeldon, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year. He should compete to be one of the top players at his position this fall as both a slasher and a pounder. The Tide will get back the beastly Jalston Fowler, who is coming off of knee surgery, and scat back Dee Hart, who is also returning from a knee injury. Sophomore Kenyan Drake is back and true freshman Derrick Henry should help out as both a running back and H-back this fall.

As for the Aggies, they're also very deep at running back. Leading rusher Ben Malena (808 yards) is back, and he'll be working with some younger but very talented teammates. Brandon Williams, who transferred from Oklahoma, has the potential to be very special. Then you have Oregon transfer Tra Carson and sophomore Trey Williams. There is a lot of speed and athleticism in Texas A&M's running back stable.

I'd also keep an eye on Florida, LSU and Ole Miss this fall. The Gators will be led by sophomore Matt Jones, who had a very good spring and should pick up right where Mike Gillislee left off. He'll also get help from redshirt junior Mack Brown, who left spring as the No. 2 back, and freshmen Kelvin Taylor and Adam Lane. Taylor had a good spring and Lane should come in and help right away.

LSU might have made Steele's list if Jeremy Hill wasn't suspended from the team. Hill's recent arrest has his future at LSU in doubt, but if he plays this fall he'll be one of the league's best. Kenny Hilliard and Alfred Blue are nothing to sneeze at. Both have shown flashes in the past and Blue should be healed from a knee injury that cost him most of his 2012 season. Losing Hill will really hurt, but the Tigers have a solid duo in Hilliard and Blue to work with.

Ole Miss returns rushing leader Jeff Scott and a talented bunch of youngsters. Scott is a solid all-purpose-type back, while sophomores I'Tavius Mathers and Jaylen Walton came on strong late last year and this spring. True freshman Mark Dodson will get his chance to see the field as well after a strong spring.

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